


The Past and the Chase

by Kooriicolada (WHM_Koorii)



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age II
Genre: Drabble Collection, Fenris (Dragon Age) Needs a Hug, M/M, Mage Hawke (Dragon Age), No Beta or Editing We Die Like Men, Pining, tags and rating will be updated if needed
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-31
Updated: 2021-01-22
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:42:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,256
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28461090
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WHM_Koorii/pseuds/Kooriicolada
Summary: Hawke pines.  Fenris is fine until he isn't.  And everyone else is just along for the ride.
Relationships: Fenris/Male Hawke
Comments: 2
Kudos: 10





	1. First Impressions

**Author's Note:**

> I'm playing through the game again and decided to write some drabbles as I go. No idea how often I will, but.... Here we go.

Fenris glanced back through the door to the abandoned mansion just in time to watch the _mage_ slump back against the nearby pillar. He closed the door, uninterested in how shaky and pale the _mage_ looked. That did not, however, stop him from listening.

  
"Are you alright, Hawke?" the woman--Aveline--said. "You look a little…."

  
"Terrible?" the mage asked. His chuckle was nearly lost to the door against Fenris' back. "I have to admit our new friend is more than a little terrifying though…"

  
Good, Fenris thought in the pause. Let the _mage_ be afraid of him. Maybe it would keep him in line.

  
"Though," the _mage_ said again. "It's more the--the demons."

  
"Aw, c'mon," the dwarf--Varric--said cheerfully. "They weren't that bad. A bit grumpy, but they went down like anything else."

  
This time the _mage_ laughed for real. "Oh I know, but I've been terrified of demons since I was a boy. Demons, the fade… All of it scares the pants off me. Even Bethany—" a slight, wounded sounding pause. "Well, she was braver in that area than I."

  
"It's done and over with now," Aveline said. "Let's all get some rest. There's more to deal with tomorrow."

  
"Yes, you're right. Thank you both."

  
Listening to them troop away, Fenris snorted. Fear or no, no mage he'd even known would look away from that power for long. It was, in his opinion, only a matter of time.

  
-

  
When Garrett got home, Mother and Uncle were already asleep. Only Carver was waiting in the main room for him.  
  
"How'd it go?" Carver asked, lifting his chin.   
  
Garrett moved to lean his staff against the wall. "Well enough. The man he was after wasn't there. Instead we got a bunch of shades and demons. It was thrilling. You'd have loved it."  
  
Carver's face scrunched up. "Next time I'll take the weird angry elf and you can do Mother's errands."  
  
"Not a chance," Garrett said blithely and sent his little brother a bright grin. "I'm taking every chance I can get to stare at that."  
  
Somehow, Carver's expression became even more sour. "If I'm going to have to deal with you getting a new boyfriend I want a warning."  
  
The smile on Garrett's face immediately slipped off. "Ah, no. That… won't be an issue." He rubbed his hands over his face, feeling the worry lines etched prematurely into his forehead and between his brows. "He hates mages."  
  
Carver snorted. "That's just like you," he said, a bit snidely. Despite the drop in his mood Garrett rolled his eyes. "You always go for the ones who don't like you."  
  
"Niels didn't dislike me," he pointed out.  
  
"No, he just wanted to sell you out to the templars for fifty silver because you decided to tell him you were an _apostate_."  
  
Garrett tilted his head back, refusing to give in and groan out loud. This was an _old_ argument of theirs. "It didn't happen," he said mildly. "Father talked him out of it—"  
  
"Father's _coin_ talked him out of it. Five gold that we couldn't afford. That was used to clean up _your mess_."  
  
"Carver, please," Garrett said, sighing heavily. "Not right now."  
  
"Fine. Try not to let this new infatuation get you killed."  
  
Before Garrett could even formulate a response, Carver had closed the door to their shared ramshackle bedroom. Garrett rubbed at the bridge of his nose. Not, he knew, that there was much he _could_ say to that. Still…  
  
"It's hardly an infatuation, he's just…. Pretty. And deadly." And exactly Garrett's type. Shaking his head, he headed to the rickety table near the wall to check through his latest batch of correspondence. Whatever Carver thought of him he wasn't stupid. He'd learned how to be careful the hard way, after all.


	2. Temper

"Hawke!" Aveline hissed.   
  


The  _ mage _ , for his part, stalked off back, shoulders, even his legs stiff. Fenris turned to watch him go as the  _ other _ mage subsided, looking sad. Not that Fenris cared. She was the one who'd decided to leave her clan.  
  


Varric rolled his shoulders back. "Don't worry about it, Daisy. Hawke will come around."  
  


"Oh! You really think so?"  
  


Fenris snorted, turning to follow the other two. It was likely that the  _ mage _ would, indeed, 'come around'. Though he had hardly known him long, Fenris had already learned that the  _ mage _ was too kind for his own good. It set his teeth on edge, made his skin itch. Everything in him screamed that it had to be a thin veneer for something nastier.  
  


But the anger he'd seen up on Sundermount when the Dalish  _ mage _ had used her blood magic had been very, very real. Fenris had never seen the  _ mage _ lose his temper like that. The bark of his voice had almost been enough to hide the ashen pallor of terror on his skin.  
  


Up ahead of him he heard Aveline snarl, "Garrett Hawke, come back here."  
  


The  _ mage _ threw his hands in the air, swivelling so forcefully that his coattails spun around his legs. "Do not," he growled right back, as deep and threatening as that of his dog. "Aveline, do  _ not _ ."  
  


"You can't just abandon her," Aveline snapped, growling right back. Ferelden barbarians, indeed. She flung her arm out, pointing back to the alienage. "We brought here her and we can't—"  
  


"She brought herself here," the  _ mage _ said bitingly. "The Keeper or whatever she was never said anything about me babysitting her once she was here."  
  


Aveline slammed her gauntleted fist into her palm. "She has no idea what she's gotten into here. Walking away from her leaves her as good as dead."  
  


Varric sidled up beside Fenris where he stood watching impassively. "Never seen him in a temper like this," he said, idly. Fenris made a noise of agreement.  
  


It was  _ good _ . If there was one thing that Fenris, that all the slaves had learned, was that knowing where someone's ugly side lay could save your life. It was good to know where the edges of the  _ mage's _ kindness and patience ended. That knowledge made him relax just a little. He could see the shape of the mage's temper now and that made his previous attitudes seem more  _ genuine _ .  
  


"I'm hardly going to disagree with him," Fenris said.  
  


"You wouldn't." Varric sighed and rolled his head back. "How put out are you going to be when Hawke inevitably adopts her like another stray?"  
  


Fenris narrowed his eyes. He wasn't sure what annoyed him more: The fact that Varric was likely calling  _ him _ one of the mage's strays, or that he was right and he'd have to see more of the dalish  _ mage _ eventually.  
  


"It's hardly my business what he does," Fenris said dismissively. "So long as he doesn't expect me to like it."  
  


"Even Hawke doesn't ask for miracles."  
  


The argument before them seemed to be winding down a little. The mage slumping under Aveline's unrelenting assault. That woman could wear down the walls of a fortress with her bullheadedness. It gave Fenris a headache.  
  


"Fine," the mage snapped. "I'll think about it. But I'm not making any promises, Aveline. Just leave it alone for now."  
  


Giving in as well Aveline nodded. "That's all I ask."  
  


The mage sighed, running a hand over his face. "Sometimes you ask a lot."  
  


Aveline snorted. "Yet you still want me around."

  
"For my sins," the mage agreed. He smiled at Aveline and rolled his shoulders back, shaking out the tension. "Alright. Come on. There's always more to do."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haven't been able to play games at all recently, so I figured I'd just go ahead and post this bit I wrote before things turned to chaos. (Two puppies has basically destroyed my life, but I love the little shits.)


End file.
